Rendering Order

The Sanctuaries of Ancient

Greece
 The Problem with Being
Civilized
• The Oikoumene: settled agricultural
regions.
• Much more productive than
“unsettled” areas, but it requires a
united, orderly community that
behaves in predictable ways.
• And that is willing to help its members
defend themselves against barbarian
snatch ‘n grabs.
Worship as a Strategy of
Worship is an Order
organized reminder of
those
values/experiences/beliefs/practices
that unite a community
• Sanctuaries and rituals provide a
symbolic representation of the way
the universe works
• Participants in the rituals rehearse
the behaviors that the community
has reason to believe will work
better than just doing what comes
naturally
Walter Burkert calls it society’s
software
• Our bodies are our “hardware.”
• The things we learn during our
lifetimes are our “software.”
• Worship was a way to pass on the
wisdom members of a society acquired
beyond the span of individual lives.
• So here’s the problem: how do you
teach people things they don’t know
they need?
 First, you do it as a group
• Worship is public. It
involves rituals that
helps members of the
society feel connected to
each other.

• One of the best ways to

do this is by “keeping
together in time.”

• Hence, public worship

often includes parades,
dances, choral singing,
and other communal Dancers from the
rituals. Acropolis
 Second, you make it
• repetitive
Feelings, which arise in the limbic
(mammalian) brain, are the strongest
and most stable motivators across a
life time.
• But since they are the product of
accumulated experience, they are
hard to influence quickly.
• The answer? Religions emphasize
both obedience and the discipline of
repetitive ritual, so that the software
of wisdom has time to take root.
 This is what Greek religion
WASN’T:
A moral system
designed to make
people better on the
inside
• An organized,
centralized church
with scriptures and a
specific creed
• A way to feel God’s
love. The Greek Red figure pot illustrating
a religious procession and
gods didn’t love their sacrifice
people.
 This is what it was:
• A contractual system that offered
people a way to negotiate for what
they needed and wanted for the price
of the sacrifices they offered. The
Greek word is charis: reciprocity.
• A safe strategy for approaching the
terrible and unpredictable divine.
• Entertainment that everyone shared
and had a part in; social glue.
 Two Things Required for
Worship
• A sacred place, which
was separated from
ordinary space by a
temenos, or sacred
boundary (temeno
means “to cut off”) of
boulders or a low wall.

• An altar, where you

made sacrificial
offerings to the gods.
A temenos at the Athenian
agora. The block at the left
reads “sacred.’
Sacrifice is Not About Destroying
Things
• It’s about giving the best
gift you can to the gods,
and giving it as
completely as possible.

• If it’s a cereal, you mill or

cook it because humans
can’t digest (get the good
of) grains until they are
ground to flour or cooked.
If it’s an animal, you
Libations (liquid offering) and
wash it and slit its throat burnt offering of animal’s organs.
so that it can give its
blood and breath (the
things that make it alive)
to the gods.
 The Nature of Sacrifice
• You don’t sacrifice things that are worth
a lot of money, like treasures or art, but
things you need to stay alive.
• Why? Because when you sacrifice
things your life depends on, you are
showing the gods that you think they
matter more than anything--even the
earth they made.
 If you were setting up a place for
•
people to meet the
“The trees formed the first
gods, where
temples ofwould you
the gods, and put it?
even at the present day, the
country people, preserving
in all their simplicity their
ancient rites, consecrate the
finest among their trees to
some divinity; indeed, we
feel ourselves inspired to Cronos’s Hill behind
adoration, not less by the the sacred
grove (Altis) at
sacred groves and their very Olympia. It’s usually
stillness, than by the statues harder to see, but a
of the gods, resplendent as fire in August, 2007
burned away the
they are with gold and ivory”
woods that usually
(Pliny, Natural History, XII, cover it.
 Becoming Sacred

• Crossing over to sacred

space required purification,
usually from a local spring
or water borne to the site
by virgins.

• The modern fountain above

is from the entrance to
Olympia; the maidens come
from the Panathenaic frieze
on the Parthenon.
 Sanctuary
• Once you were in the
temenos, you were “set
apart” from ordinary life
and could not be harmed.
This was called the right
of asylia, or “to be not
stolen.” (Like the modern
word asylum.)

• “A shrine is stronger than

a tower to save, a shield
that none may cleave.”
Aeschylus, The
Suppliants.
 Religious Festivals and
• Divinity is,Processions
by definition, inhuman and thus
unpredictable, so it’s safest to approach the
gods as a group according to nomos, or
lawful custom.
• Religious festivals reserve “a specific time
and place for a communal focus” on those
values that order communal life, sometimes
2-3 times/week.
• “Participants...are alert, even sophisticated,
actors in a ritual drama affirming the
establishment of a new civic order, and
renewed rapport among people, leader, and
protecting divinity” (Connor, 46, quoted in
Members of the procession
wear garlands and the
sacrificial lamb is tied with
ribbons to indicate that this is a
joyful occasion, not a reason to
mourn.
This “Pompe” or religious
procession marches to the beat
of a musical accompaniment--
see the pipes and lyre?
A virgin carries the sacrificial
basket. Her purity ensures the
purity of the sacrifice. Her
basket contains barley (a
reference to first fruits), water
for purification, and the knife.
The open air altar is blood-
stained. The sacrificial animal
must be without blemish and
“consents” to the sacrifice by
“nodding” when it’s sprayed
with water.
 Public Worship
You offered your sacrifice at a
public altar, where everyone
could see and participate.
• If the sacrifice was an animal,
the priest divided its body
and distributed the parts in
imitation of the order the
gods had established in the
universe.
• In The Timaeus, Plato wrote Altar (at left) outside Apollo’s temple at
Delphi
that the human body itself
was “parts, borrowed from
the universe, to be given
back again.”
II. The Rise of the Polis and
Temple Sanctuaries, c. 600-
300 BCE
 Temples for the Gods
• By about 600 BCE, the development of the
city state (“polis”) and the growth of trade
meant that communities had more money
• The Greeks spent much of this new wealth on
the sanctuaries they believed were the
source of prosperity, protection, and public
order.
• The most famous example of this expansion
of the functions of Greek sanctuaries is the
Acropolis in Athens, rebuilt with taxes that
were collected for the defense of entire
Delian League after the Persian Wars.
 Athena’s
Partheno
Erechtheu
n
m
(educatio
(history)
n and
Propylaea treasury)
(rest stop) Altar
(divine
help)
Athena
Nike Theater
(military (civics)
power) Stoa
(market,
internet,
The Acropolis as a one-stop gov’t
and
community center lodging)
 The Panathenaic Festival
• Athens’ most
important festival
was celebrated every
four years in honor of
Athena, their patron
goddess

• It began with the

Panathenaic
Procession, a Pompe
The Panathenaic Procession
(religious procession) entering the Propylaea on the
from Athens to the Acropolis; image from
Connolly and Hodge, The
Acropolis Ancient City
 There’s a place for
everyone
• These scenes of the
Panathenaic
Procession are from
the frieze that runs
around the
Parthenon, Athena’s
temple on the
Acropolis.

• It includes both men

(above) and women
(below) both of whom
meet in front of the
seated gods who are
watching.
 The Propylaea, gateway to
the
The Propylaea was a
sacred
formal gateway from
ordinary to sacred
space. The one on the
Acropolis is famous for
the way its arms reach Fragment of
the ramp
out to welcome leading to
worshipers the Acropolis
in Athens.
• Inside, it offered an art Imagine
climbing this
gallery, a dining hall, on a wet day
and benches that in leather
sandals
allowed worshipers to while you
recover from the carried a calf
on your
arduous climb up the shoulders for
Culminating in the sacrifice
• This scene from
the frieze shows
the bull that is
being led to the
altar that stood in
FRONT (to the
east) of the
Parthenon,
Athena’s temple.

• In that case, why

bother with a
temple?
 A. Displays of Military
Power
• The Temple of Athena
Nike, “the victorious
Athena,” is a small temple
to the right of the Propylaea
• Built to celebrate victory
over Sparta, visible from
bluff.
• Frieze on one side shows the
history of the battle; on the
other shows the victory
celebration afterwards.
 Civic Museums
Empowerment--
the temples
were a way to
display the
city’s wealth
and pride,
including the
weapons they
had won
Helmets, in
weapons,
battle.
and parts of shields
were often deposited
in temples after
victories
The most famous example of a
military offering

This helmet was

found deposited at
the temple at
Olympia. It bears an
inscription saying
that it was a gift from
Miltiades, the
Athenian commander
who won the Battle of
Marathon for Athens
against the Persians,
to the god Zeus.
 B. Monuments to Shared
History
• The Erechtheum
honors Athens’
founders

• Built during the

tragic years of the
Peloponnesian wars.

• Several sites on
different levels

• unified by blue The stones in front are the

marble trim--can foundation of the original Temple
you see it? to Athena the Persians destroyed
 Celebrating Civilization
• Athena stands beside the
olive tree that was her gift
to her people and which,
people believed, had still
grown to the west of the
Erechtheum until the
Persians burned it in 480
(when it was said to have
turned green again).

• It was planted next to the

grave of King Cecrops, the
king who brought writing A grave marker from
and monogamy to Athens. the Acropolis
Let’s get you oriented
 C. Permanent homes for
the gods
• The Parthenon was
built to house this
huge ivory and gold
statue of Athena, the
patroness of Athens.

• A small, windowless
room behind the
statue was essentially
a safe for the
offerings made to the
goddess.
 D. “The Education of all
Greece”

• Temples were decorated by carved, painted reliefs.

Doric temples displayed the reliefs in cartoon-like
panels called metopes. In Ionic temples, the reliefs
formed one continuous frieze.
• These were artistic “crib notes” that reminded the
community of the stories and values that united
them.
III. Wider
Purposes of
Sanctuaries
Inviting
worshipers to
achieve arete
by means of The Labors of Heracles
at Olympia suggested
agon. that man could
become semi-divine
 Sanctuaries invited worshipers
to achieve arete through agon.
• One of the purposes
of religion is to endow
its members with
enhanced power.

• The Greeks called this

arete, or excellence.

• They believed arete

was most readily
achieved by agon, or
competition.
Text
The Olympic Games & Fleeting
Glory
• “Greatness was to be
won at Olympia; it went
by the name of kudos,
“renown,” and it was a
quality endowed by
Zeus....Because it was
divine in nature, this
greatness was a power
that had the potential
to overwhelm mundane
conditions” (Munn, 25)
 Theater could also provoke
greatness
• Theatrical
competitions were a
common part of
religious festivals

• Theater was also a

way to provoke
individuals to
experience the full
complexity of difficult
situations from a
variety of viewpoints; The theater at the sanctuary
the leading actor in a at Epidaurus
tragedy was called
“the first competitor.”
 F. Sanctuaries as places of
healing
• Some sanctuaries
were built especially
for the ill, like the one
at Epidaurus, the
birthplace of the
great healer
Asclepius.

• Prior to beginning
their cure, the
supplicants were
brought to these
bathing areas to
purify themselves.
God from below and above the earth
came together to heal body and
mind.
• After being bathed,
patients were taken to
sleeping quarters, given a
sedative, and told the gods
would visit their dreams
and give them instruction.

• Holistic healing that

involved the whole family:
physical or intellectual
exercise (gymnasium and
library); rest and recreation
(theater); specialized diets
(lots of dining areas).
Some he tended with soft
incantations
Some had juleps to drink
Or round their limbs he
laid his simples
And for some the knife.
--Pythian Ode III
G. Binding Authority: the Oracle
at Delphi
• Most sanctuaries were
local. There were,
however, four
“Panhellenic”
sanctuaries, including
Olympia and Delphi.

• Delphi was a place of

last resort, where the
community could use
the oracle to come to
consensus on a
difficult question
 A Sacred Site
• Delphi was
understood to be
world’s omphalos, or
navel; a steady
center point and
source of
nourishment.

• The site encompasses

everything--
mountains (“the
Shining Ones”) riven
by a sacred spring;
plains, clear skies,
scudding clouds,
woods, water, the
 Education of Body and
Mind

The site included

areas for instruction,
including a
gymnasium, track
(immediately ahead)
and pools to the right.
 Purification
• One of the most famous
of the purification sites is
the Castilian Spring at
Delphi

• This is where the Pythia,

the soothsaying
priestess, purified herself
before going to Apollo’s
temple.

• Those wishing to consult

the Pythia also purified
themselves here.
 History & Public Relations
• The Sacred Way, past
huge monuments to
athletes and cities

• Athenian Treasury
memorializing their
victory at Marathon

• Right next to the

sacred rock on which
Apollo was said to
have slain the Pythia,
the wise serpent.
• The Pythian Games every
Agon
four years included poetic,
dramatic, and athletic
contests.

• “Queen Demeter, stand

before us,
Smile upon your favorite
Chorus!
Grant that when we dance
and play
As befits your hold day,
Part in earnest, part in jest,
We may shine above the
rest,
And our play in all men’s
eyes
Favor find, and win the
 But the real attraction was Apollo’s
oracle; here’s the altar and entrance
to the temple
The oracle sat in a sunken
area at the west end of the
temple with the omphalos
Knowledge direct from the
Gods
• The story was that a goat fell down a cleft in
the earth and became intoxicated; a
shepherd followed and began to prophesy.
• This became a nuisance as more and more
people followed--and all disappeared.
• They finally appointed one woman as
prophetess and made her a three-footed
“tripod” seat on which to steady herself over
the chasm.
• Recent geological studies confirm
hallucinogenic gases
A procession to Apollo in his temple at
Delphi--he’s sitting between two
tripods. A young woman is carrying the
sacred basket with the sacrificial knife
and barley; an incense stand is behind
her.
 Sources
• Adkins, Lesley and Roy. Handbook to Life in Ancient Greece. Facts
on File, 1997.

• Boardman, John, et al. The Oxford History of the Classical World.

OUP, 1986.

• Burkert, Walter. Creation of the Sacred: Tracks of Biology in Early

Religions. Harvard University Press, 1996.

• Easterling, P. E. and J. V. Muir, eds. Greek Religion and Society.

CUP, 1985.

• Freeman, Charles. The Greek Achievement. Viking, 1999.

• Haidt, Jonathan. The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth

in Ancient Wisdom. Basic Books, 2006.

• Lewis, Thomas, et al. A General Theory of Love. Vintage, 2001.

 Sources, cont.

• McNeill, William H. Keeping Together in Time: Dance and Drill in

Human History. HUP, 1995.

• Munn, Mark. The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of
Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. University of
California Press, 2006,

• Neer, Richard T. “Delphi, Olympia, and the Art of Politics.” In The

Cambridge Companion to Archaic Greece, ed. H. A. Shapiro. CUP,
2007.

• Pedley, John. Sanctuaries and the Sacred in the Ancient Greek

World. CUP, 2005.

• Mark Henn graciously allowed me to use his photographs to

illustrate slides #9, 26, 27, 40, 44, 46. Thanks, Mark.